Apparently I think I'm insightful sometimes

What Is a ‘Blog Post,’ Really, Anyway?

Here are some thoughts that are not written by me and are written probably 10 times better than me. I am copping out of blogging this month mostly because my brain is in essay mode and any creative writing right now comes out looking like this: “relevant discourse surrounding the topic has so far failed to expand on the question of why Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water and, therefore, they all lived happily ever after in areas of further scholarly consideration” etc.

So yeah. I think what Jennifer has to say is exceptionally accurate – on a topic that kind of refuses accuracy altogether. It’s so difficult to categorize any form digital publishing, especially when almost anything can be published digitally nowadays (did I just say “nowadays?”). The realm of digital or online storytelling allows for so many possibilities that it’s hard to narrow down a space in which to slot “blog posts,” so as to differentiate them from other forms of mass media. So why try so hard? As Jennifer says, part of the beauty of blogging is its freedom to fill any space it wants – or needs to.

Now that I’m teaching Blog Writing, I’ve encountered a sticky problem: I don’t know what a blog post is. I mean, obviously I know the way any thinking person in 2016 knows. I know that this is one I’m writing right now, for instance. But when it comes to defining what a blog post is, and even moreso what a blog post isn’t, I get pretty lost.

So I’m going to try to find a definition. Right here, right now.

For starters, we know that a blog post is a piece of writing published online. It comes in the form, somewhat, of traditional journalism: a headline, followed by information of some sort. It’s published for the world to see, regardless of how large or small a portion of the world actually bothers to see it.